fine cup of tea, brewed in the Yixing pot, shared by the two men, who, from that point on, become friends and shared tea together every day for many years.
TEA â S INFLUENCE ON ASIAN ARTS
Tea played a significant part in the development of the East Asian arts. Beginning in the thirteenth century and lasting for hundreds of years, there was a large and enthusiastic market for fine utensils, particularly fine ceramics, to be used in the brewing and serving of tea in Japan, China, and Korea.
The tea ceremony in seventeenth-century Japan became a way for noblemen to display their wealth or power and to establish their social standing within the community. One of the greatest proponents of this was Hideyoshi, who had a great love of Korean pottery. In 1592 (only a year after he commanded his tea master, Rikyu, to commit ritual suicide), he sent warships to Korea and brought back fifty Korean potters to make the ceramics he wanted. This was the first of the Japanese invasions of Koreaâothers followed in 1597 and 1598 âthat were eventually called the âpottery wars.â
Of course, Hideyoshi wanted more than pots. His ultimate goal was to dominate the Koreans and to force them to help him overtake the Chinese throne in Beijing. China sent troops to Korea to prevent this, and the combined Chinese and Korean forces were winning the war against the Japanese when Hideyoshi died suddenly in September 1598 , apparently of a heart attack. The Japanese gave up the fight and returned home.
The results in Korea of these pottery wars were devastating. Economic hardship was widespread, and only the wealthy aristocrats and scholars could afford to drink tea during the years following these wars. Tea drinking and the tea ceremony were only reestablished in Korea in the early nineteenth century under the direction of the scholar Tasan Chong Yak-yong ( 1762 â 1836 ), who began the practice of drinking tea in a formal way in a special tearoom.
Tea in Russia
In the 1600s, a trade route was developed between China and Russia. The route was long and difficult, as the paths went through treacherous mountainous terrain and barren countryside for a distance of about eleven thousand miles. It took Chinese traders approximately sixteen months to make the journey to Russia, so all products brought from China were expensive and considered luxury items in Russia, including tea.
There is some controversy about just when tea first came to Russia, but most scholars date the event to 1618, when the emperor of China sent a gift of several chests of tea to the Czar Alexis.
In spite of its great cost, tea became immensely popular with the royalty and high society of Moscow. It took nearly a century for the price of tea to drop, but when it did, the general populace became equally enthusiastic about the beverage. The Russians were quick to develop their own way of blending different teas together. On the whole, they preferred strong, dark tea sweetened with honey, sugar, or jam.
Typically, two or three different kinds of tea were brewed in individual pots, then small but concentrated amounts of the infusion were poured into a single cup. Hot water was added to dilute the concentrated liquid, the quantity depending on personal preferences.
The water was heated in a samovar, a large kettle first used in the eighteenth century, patterned after those used in Mongolia as early as the thirteenth century. The samovar consisted of a large kettle (usually copper or bronze), a tap, and a charcoal burner as a heat source. A cylindrical pipe of hot air passed through the water-filled container to heat the water and keep it an even temperature. During the warm summer months, the samovar was placed outside in the garden. In winter, it was brought into the house, where a long pipe carried the smoke directly into the chimney. The water was deemed ready for tea when the samovar began to make sounds. According to tradition, the water is ready after
TEA â S INFLUENCE ON ASIAN ARTS
Tea played a significant part in the development of the East Asian arts. Beginning in the thirteenth century and lasting for hundreds of years, there was a large and enthusiastic market for fine utensils, particularly fine ceramics, to be used in the brewing and serving of tea in Japan, China, and Korea.
The tea ceremony in seventeenth-century Japan became a way for noblemen to display their wealth or power and to establish their social standing within the community. One of the greatest proponents of this was Hideyoshi, who had a great love of Korean pottery. In 1592 (only a year after he commanded his tea master, Rikyu, to commit ritual suicide), he sent warships to Korea and brought back fifty Korean potters to make the ceramics he wanted. This was the first of the Japanese invasions of Koreaâothers followed in 1597 and 1598 âthat were eventually called the âpottery wars.â
Of course, Hideyoshi wanted more than pots. His ultimate goal was to dominate the Koreans and to force them to help him overtake the Chinese throne in Beijing. China sent troops to Korea to prevent this, and the combined Chinese and Korean forces were winning the war against the Japanese when Hideyoshi died suddenly in September 1598 , apparently of a heart attack. The Japanese gave up the fight and returned home.
The results in Korea of these pottery wars were devastating. Economic hardship was widespread, and only the wealthy aristocrats and scholars could afford to drink tea during the years following these wars. Tea drinking and the tea ceremony were only reestablished in Korea in the early nineteenth century under the direction of the scholar Tasan Chong Yak-yong ( 1762 â 1836 ), who began the practice of drinking tea in a formal way in a special tearoom.
Tea in Russia
In the 1600s, a trade route was developed between China and Russia. The route was long and difficult, as the paths went through treacherous mountainous terrain and barren countryside for a distance of about eleven thousand miles. It took Chinese traders approximately sixteen months to make the journey to Russia, so all products brought from China were expensive and considered luxury items in Russia, including tea.
There is some controversy about just when tea first came to Russia, but most scholars date the event to 1618, when the emperor of China sent a gift of several chests of tea to the Czar Alexis.
In spite of its great cost, tea became immensely popular with the royalty and high society of Moscow. It took nearly a century for the price of tea to drop, but when it did, the general populace became equally enthusiastic about the beverage. The Russians were quick to develop their own way of blending different teas together. On the whole, they preferred strong, dark tea sweetened with honey, sugar, or jam.
Typically, two or three different kinds of tea were brewed in individual pots, then small but concentrated amounts of the infusion were poured into a single cup. Hot water was added to dilute the concentrated liquid, the quantity depending on personal preferences.
The water was heated in a samovar, a large kettle first used in the eighteenth century, patterned after those used in Mongolia as early as the thirteenth century. The samovar consisted of a large kettle (usually copper or bronze), a tap, and a charcoal burner as a heat source. A cylindrical pipe of hot air passed through the water-filled container to heat the water and keep it an even temperature. During the warm summer months, the samovar was placed outside in the garden. In winter, it was brought into the house, where a long pipe carried the smoke directly into the chimney. The water was deemed ready for tea when the samovar began to make sounds. According to tradition, the water is ready after
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